Today's News

Mount Harmony Baptist Church will have a gospel singing on Jan. 30 at 7 p.m. the singing groups will be 3 4 Thee, The Gospel Friends and the Above. Submit your items for Church News by 3 p.m. on Friday. Items concerning community events run free of charge. Send items by mail to 225 N. 1st Street, LaFollette, TN 37766, by fax at 566-7060 or by email to stories@lafollettepress.com.

Five Jellico High School football players have been named to the All-District 4-A/AA Football Team this year following a vote of the league coaches. They include running back/linebacker Freedom Scott, running back/linebacker Ryan Morris, wide receiver/defensive back Nathan Overton, lineman/quarterback Devin Oakes and receiver Michael Douglas.

From team championships to outstanding individual performances, Campbell County athletes had another memorable run in 2009.

The year began with the CCHS boy’s basketball team advancing to play in the district tournament championship game for the first time since 1996 and ended with a returning player on the same team breaking a school scoring record that had stood for nearly 30 years.

In-between there was lots and lots of action and drama. The following is a monthly review of the top sports happenings in Campbell County over the past year.

Campbell County High School’s girls likely won’t face a better opponent this season than the McMinn Central basketball team they played last Wednesday in the championship game of Kessler’s Lady Spartans Classic at Webb School of Knoxville.

McMinn Central, a state tournament regular, graduated all five starters from a team that won 34 consecutive games last year and made the Class AA state quarterfinals. However, the Chargerettes (12-1 overall) have recharged their batteries and are playing at a high level this season.

With disgruntled parents just a few feet away and against the advice of his attorney, Dean Branam admitted he was guilty of assault on Monday.

When he was indicted last year, the then middle school teacher was charged with three counts of sexual battery and seven counts of assault, court records said. While sexual battery is a felony under state law, by the end of his hearing, Branam had plead guilty to seven misdemeanor counts of assault by offensive touching.

However, Branam’s attorney, Michael Hatmaker, was not the only one who disagreed with the plea.

After years of the Bible being banned from the classroom, the Campbell County Board of Education is brining it back; at least from a historical perspective.

At Tuesday’s meeting the group made the unprecedented move. After doing some research into curriculum the board voted to introduce a new elective course at the high schools that will allow the Bible to be examined as a historical document as well as a piece of literature.

Chairman Eugene Lawson touted the benefits of the course, but also offered a warning about choosing teachers for the class with care.

After many months of waiting on a water/sewer rate increase, the LaFollette Utility Board (LUB) is finally closer to a solution which would aid in the water department’s deficit.

At Monday night’s special called LUB meeting, board members briefly discussed and signed a resolution supporting a recent decision made by the LaFollette City Council, which gave the board the authority to set its own water/sewer rates.

Caryville’s monthly mayor and aldermen meeting was short and sweet, with only two items on the agenda.

The board briefly discussed and passed a resolution allowing the town of Caryville to apply for a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) at Monday night’s meeting. The CDBG program is a state program, which offers grants to local jurisdictions to fund housing rehab. The grant funds will not exceed $500,000 and there is no match required by the town.